husband hope to be

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Jan Sulc

#436416 Mon, 29 Oct 07 03:25 PM

Hi,
can you please advise me about grammatical structure of a sentence like "Brat Pitt, her husband hope to be, was found totally drunk last night...etc."

Infinitiv "to be" specifies the subject "husband". And "hope" specifies the infinitive "to be" - correct?

Is it frequent that a substantive (hope) specifies infinitive (to be)???

It sounds very weird to me, even if I know this phrase is generally used and correct....

What I am looking for is grammatical explanation of structure of this phrase.

Thanks everyone having an idea!
jan sulc

Jan Sulc

Joined on Mon, Oct 29 2007

New Member (03)

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Grammar Geek

#436417 Mon, 29 Oct 07 03:35 PM

Hello Jan Sulc, and welcome to the forums.

The sentence you have quoted is quite ungrammatical.

There is a standard construction, soon-to-be. That person/thing will soon be whatever you write, but isn't yet. For example, when referring to your fiance the week before your wedding, you can say "soon-to-be husband."

I haven't seen that in "hoped-to-be" but I supposed you could do that, as in "Harvard, my hoped-to-be future university" -- but it seems awkward to me.

The meaning that is trying to come through is "the person that he/she hopes will be..."

So I can't give you a gammatical explanation, because it isn't grammatical. If you think it's generally used, could you give a few more examples?

Grammar Geek

Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006

Pennsylvania, USA

Veteran Member (15,592)

Barbara, who answers in American English.

Constructions, Universities, Weddings

Jan Sulc

#436432 Mon, 29 Oct 07 04:20 PM

Thanks very much for your quick response.
I like your explanation - it would explain everything:-)

I know this phrase just from "common speech" (in London).

I tried hard to "google up" some more examples, but in vain.

Can you confirm that it is really incorrect English?

Thank you once more for your help.
Jan Sulc

Jan Sulc

Grammar Geek

#436440 Mon, 29 Oct 07 04:59 PM

Hi again,

I can only confirm that it is "non-standard American English."

I can't say it's not standard elsewhere.

Grammar Geek

American English

nona the brit

#436446 Mon, 29 Oct 07 05:23 PM

It's not standard in London either.

Are you sure you didn't hear 'husband-to-be'? This is a normal construction, but not with the word 'hope' in the middle of it.

nona the brit

Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004

England

Veteran Member (11,355)

The name says it all.

Constructions

Jan Sulc

#436453 Mon, 29 Oct 07 05:31 PM

Yes, I am sure, my friends living in London (though not native speakers) used it precisely like this: "...also John should come, Jane's husband hope to be".

Thank you very much for your answer.

I am glad you solved this for me, I couldn't find the answer anywhere.

jan sulc

Jan Sulc